62 pc quake-damaged houses rebuilt, 24 percent under-construction: NRA

Published On: November 23, 2019 07:26 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Nov 23: The National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) has said that 62 percent of the houses damaged by the 2015 earthquakes have already been rebuilt while another 24 percent are currently under-construction.

NRA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sushil Gyewali informed Republica about the progress made so far in the reconstruction work during a meeting of the parliamentary committee on Development and Technology on Friday. CEO Gyewali said that altogether 479,545 houses have already been rebuilt and a total of 189,141 houses are currently under construction.

CEO Gyewali said that they have achieved 86 percent progress in rebuilding the houses destroyed by the earthquake if the houses under construction are also taken into account.

The NRA had signed grant agreements with a total of 776,427 beneficiaries for rebuilding the quake-damaged houses. Among them, 99 percent of the beneficiaries have already received the first tranche of the grant, while 80 percent have received the second.

Around 67 percent of the beneficiaries have so far received the third tranche of the housing grant. The NRA provided Rs 50,000 in the first tranche, Rs 150,000 in the second tranche and Rs 100,000 in the third.

NRA said a total of 4,929 beneficiaries of the housing grant have been relocated to safer locations. Similarly, a total of 8,286 landless families have been provided land for building new houses.

Likewise, 71 percent of the total 7,553 schools damaged by the earthquake have already been reconstructed and another 24 percent are currently in the construction phase. Similarly, 78 percent of the total 1,197 health posts destroyed by the earthquake have been reconstructed already while the reconstruction of another 14 percent health facilities is currently underway.

NRA CEO Gyewali also informed Republica that the reconstruction of Ranipokhari, Dharahara, Singha Durbar and Kastamandap is going on expeditiously.